BADA

Accidental dispersion of toxic gas clouds may occur around industrial platforms or during hazardous materials transportation. In case of such a toxic risk, the best protection strategy is to remain inside a building and seek refuge in an airtight room identified as “shelter” until the toxic cloud has finally been swept off. This strategy called “passive shelter-in-place” also includes obstructing all external openings and turning off all mechanical ventilation systems

During the project QUAD-BBC, several ventilation systems have been studied in residential (individual house and collective dwellings) and non-residential (school, offices) and assessed by the evaluation of an IAQ multi-criteria.
These calculations have shown some typical evolution of pollutants in very tight low consumption buildings and can alert on some possible effects.

LBNL Residential Diagnostics Database (ResDB) contains blower door measurements and other diagnostic test results of homes in United States. Of these, approximately 134,000 single-family detached homes have sufficient information for the analysis of air leakage in relation to a number of housing characteristics. We performed regression analysis to consider the correlation between normalized leakage and a number of explanatory variables: IECC climate zone, floor area, height, year built, foundation type, duct location, and other housing characteristics.

The performance of ventilation and airtightness of the building envelope was studied in field measurements in recently constructed Estonian apartment buildings. The buildings were selected with different building envelopes and ventilation systems. The mean air leakage rate at the pressure difference of 50 Pa in the database was 1.7 m3/(h·m2). The mean air change rate at the pressure difference of 50 Pa from the database was 2.3 h-1.

Starting already 1950 i.e. for more than 60 years back in time – we have been using a probably quite unique quality assurance system in Sweden covering all aspects of building and installation technologies. Practically all buildings and their installations are performed according to the quality requirements in the AMA specification guidelines (General Material and Workmanship Specifications). The AMA requirements are made valid when they are referred to in the contract between the owner and the contractor.

A retrofit study was conducted in an unoccupied manufactured house to investigate the impacts of airtightening on ventilation rates and energy consumption. This report describes the retrofits and the results of the pre- and post-retrofit assessment of building airtightness, ventilation, and energy use. Building envelope and air distribution systems airtightness were measured using fan pressurization. Air change rates were measured continuously using the tracer gas decay technique.

The airtightness of inclined roofs is important in order to avoid hygrothermal problems and to guarantee the durability of the construction itself. Previous research in building physics showed that perfect airtightness of inclined roofs is difficult to achieve and maintain. In practice, air transport through the construction, i.e. in/exfiltration, cannot be avoided due to for example imperfections or bad workmanship. The heat and moisture conditions in the building component are strongly influenced by advection, i.e.

Recently, insulation retrofits of existing houses have been thought to be one of the effective measures from the viewpoint of global warming prevention. However, the overall reduction effects of environmental loads by the insulation retrofits have not yet been clarified. This study intends to accumulate basic data concerning the insulation retrofits and to promote the energy saving of existing houses. 

Starting January 1st, 2013 the French thermal regulation will impose a minimum requirement for residential buildings air-tightness. However, nothing is planed for non-residential building, for two reasons:

Accidental releases occurring in industrial platforms or during transportation of hazardous materials can entail the dispersion of toxic gas clouds. In case of such an event, the best protection strategy for people is to identify a shelter in a nearby building and stay in this room until the toxic cloud has finally been swept off.